Historical 1979 report by Robert Lowes. Rat poison descriptions, safety assertions and instructions are statements in the original source, not current poison-control or medical guidance.
Man against rat. This ancient war has never ended. According to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, the numerical edge belongs to man. For every one gnawing brown rat, there’ are two homo sapiens. But though outnumbered, the rat also must be outsmarted if man is to win the war.
“Rats will live where people allow them to live,” states Mr. Hugh Mooney of the city -health department. As he explains. people typically create rat neighborhoods by their slovenliness. A stack of lumber in a backyard becomes their home; a garbage bag in the alley, their restaurant.
One major function of Rat Control, a division of the health department, is to help destroy sources of food and shelter for the rodents. In other words. it cleans up the messes that rat-conscious citizens wouldn’t have made.
In order to stay warm and dry, rats will move into any heap of debris. They will even move into your house. Standard procedures that a property owner can use to seal off his building against rats include tuck pointing foundations and placing sheet metal on basement doors so as not to permit the tiniest crack to show. (Rats can squirm through a hole the size of a quarter).
Walking up and down some of the trash-strewn alleys in Skinker-DeBaliviere might convince someone that rats are more than welcome here. Trashier than any alley, though. is the railroad bed that cuts through our neighborhood. Many residents point to it as a major haven for rats. Clean stretches of the bed prove that at least a-few folks who live along side of it are fighting the good fight.
People use their heads in the rat war when they ask for help. Rat Control handles complaints on rat infestations inside and outside the home and the poor storage of refuse that encourages such infestations. They will spread out rat poison where it is needed. They also distribute indoor rat poison to such institutions as the Des Peres Branch Public Library. Individuals may obtain up to six bags at a time. Each bag contains roughly 3 ounces of poison which, when digested, causes the rat to bleed internally. Mr. Mooney of the health department explains that this type of poison “is one of the safest.” A human would have to eat large quantities of it before he became ill. Also, humans are capable of regurgitating the poison. Rats aren’t. However, the poison is still dangerous and part of the remedy printed on the bag includes blood transfusions.
The poison is simple to use. Place the poison along walls or in corners where rats are known to travel. (Rats usually aren’t seen in the middle of the floor.) Tracks, burrows, droppings and gnawing marks betray rat thoroughfares. Bait at least for five to fourteen days without interruption. Des Peres Branch librarian Arlene Sandler states that baiting should last as long as the rats are nibbling.
Ms. Sandler reports that demand for the poison has increased dramatically during the past year. On the average. the library distributes 400 bags of poison per month. Not all of it is used in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood. People from as far away as the 6900 block of Clayton and the 1500 block of Page have picked up the poison at the Des Peres Branch Librar-y. Nevertheless, the increased demand reflects a widespread opinion that more rats are settling down in SkinkerDeBaliviere. Many residents believe that rats have been deserting sections of the DeBaliviere Place redevelopment area and fleeing west. Since rats can’t find food and water in empty buildings and empty lots. such a flight is predictable.
The influx of hungry, homeless rats into the neighborhood demands more militant cleanliness on everyone’s part. Rallying the troops is the job of people such as Carliss Billups. the sanitation coordinator of the 5800 block of DeGiverville. Mr. Billups states that he constantly needs to instruct his neighbors on the subject of rat control. About ten families listen and fully cooperate. A few families, blatantly ignoring him, continue to store junk and dispose of trash in unsanitary ways.
The health department, however, can not be ignored. It will prosecute sanitation violators in court. Those found guilty are often sentenced to a term in the Environmental Awareness Class. Conducted by the health department, this class meets at 634 N. Grand on Friday mornings from 9 to 11:30. Because he learns how to be a bad neighbor for rats, an offender graduates as a good neighbor for people.
Originally published in The Paper, December 1979.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1979_12.pdf, printed page(s) 9; PDF page(s) 9.
